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Composition and structure
Number of
members :
15 judges, including the President and Vice President of Court (presently
one judicial position is vacant)
Recruitment procedures and incompatibilities :
Judges of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania are appointed
by the President of the Republic upon advice of the Judicial Council
(highest self-governance institution of the judiciary) from among
the persons entered into the register of persons seeking judicial
promotion for a term until they reach 65 years of age.
When a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania reaches
the age of 65, his/her term of office may be extended by the President
of the Republic until the age of 70.
The President and the Vice President of the Supreme Administrative
Court are appointed by the President of the Republic of Lithuania
upon advice of the Judicial Council from among the judges of the
Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania for the term of six years.
They may be re-appointed for another term once.
Criteria for
the candidates:
General requirements for all judicial positions in Lithuania: nationality
of the Republic of Lithuania, high moral character, university degree
in law, health certificate, special examination (if the candidate
is not exempted from examination according to the Law on Courts
of the Republic of Lithuania).
Judge of at least four years standing as a judge of a regional administrative
court or a regional court of general jurisdiction, judge of the
Court of Appeals of Lithuania without regard to his record of work
at the Court of Appeals, a person having Doctor or Habil. Doctor
of Social Sciences (Law) degree and of at least eight years' standing
as a university professor of law, prosecutor of the Office of the
Prosecutor General of at least ten years' standing as a prosecutor
as well as advocate of at least ten years' standing as an advocate
who has submitted a health certificate may be appointed a judge
of the Supreme Administrative Court.
The judge in
Lithuania may not hold any other elective or appointed posts, work
in business or any other private offices or enterprises, the only
exception being teaching or creative activities. The judge may not
participate in the activities of political parties and any other
political organisations.
Internal organization :
Cases at the Supreme Administrative Court are usually heard by a
chamber of three justices. For hearing complex cases an expanded
chamber of five justices may be formed on the initiative of the
President of Court or on the recommendation of the chamber, or the
case may be referred to the plenary session of the Court. Plenary
session is deemed lawful where it is attended by at least two-thirds
of the justices of the Court.
The apparatus of the Supreme Administrative Court is composed of
President's Office,
assistants to judges, Department of Judicial Practice, Records Office,
Division of Information and
Computer Technologies, Finance division and Economy division.
Publications
:
The Supreme Administrative Court periodically issues its bulletin
under the title "Administraciniu teismu praktika" (Practice
of Administrative Courts) publishing in it periodically the following:
1) decisions, orders and rulings rendered by the plenary session
of the court, decisions handed down by a chamber of three judges
or an extended chamber of five judges the publication whereof has
been approved by the majority of judges of the Supreme Administrative
Court as well as all decisions on lawfulness of regulatory administrative
acts;
2) summary reviews of court practice in the application of laws
and other legal acts in cases of separate categories and their interpretation
in the form of recommendations;
3) other materials the publication of which has been approved by
the majority of judges of the Supreme Administrative Court.
Presently the
bulletin is issued twice a year.
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Court
functions
Jurisdiction
:
The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania is the appellate and
final instance for cases from decisions, rulings and orders of regional
administrative courts as the courts of the first instance.
The Supreme Administrative Court is also the first and final instance
for certain categories of
administrative cases assigned to its jurisdiction by law. It includes
inter alia:
- cases relating to the lawfulness of regulatory administrative
acts adopted by the central entities of
state administration
- cases relating to the complaints against the decisions or omission
of the Central Electoral
Committee, with the exception of those assigned to the competence
of the Constitutional Court.
The Supreme Administrative Court is also responsible for developing
of uniform practice of
administrative courts in interpretation and application of laws.
Organization of the courts system :
The system of administrative courts of Lithuania consists of 5 regional
administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.
Regional administrative courts function as 1st instance courts,
and the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania - as the appellate
instance for cases from decisions, rulings and orders of regional
administrative courts as well as the first and final instance for
certain categories of administrative cases.
In administrative cases there is no cassation. Rulings of the Supreme
Administrative Court of Lithuania are final and not subject to appeal.
Powers of the judge :
Administrative courts consider complaints (applications) against
administrative enactments adopted by the entities of public and
internal administration and their acts or omission (i.e., neglect
to perform their duties). They also hear petitions to review conformity
of a regulatory administrative act (or part thereof) with the law
or Government regulation.
Administrative courts do not hear cases assigned to the competence
of the Constitutional Court, or cases assigned to the courts of
general jurisdiction. Investigation of the activities of the President
of the Republic, the Seimas (parliament), members of the Seimas,
the Prime Minister, the Government (as a collegial body), procedural
actions of judges, also of prosecutors, investigators, persons conducting
an inquiry and bailiffs, connected with the administration of justice
or investigation of a case as well as the execution of decisions
are outside the remit of competence of administrative courts.
Upon hearing
the case, the administrative court may adopt one of the following
decisions:
1) to reject the complaint/petition as unfounded;
2) to meet the complaint/petition and revoke the contested act (part
thereof) or to obligate the appropriate entity of administration
to remedy the committed violation or carry out other orders of the
court;
3) to meet the complaint/petition and to obligate the appropriate
entity of municipal administration to accordingly implement the
law, the Government resolution or another legal act
4) to meet the complaint and to settle the dispute in any other
manner provided for by law;
5) to meet the complaint/petition and to award damages or redressing
of a moral wrong caused to a natural person or an organisation by
the unlawful acts or omission in the sphere of public administration
performed by State or municipal institutions, agencies, services
and their employees while discharging of their official functions.
A contested act (or a part thereof) may be annulled if it is:
1) illegal in essence, i.e., conflicting by its contents with legal
acts of superior power
2) illegal by reason of being adopted by an entity of administration
acting outside the remit of his competence;
3) illegal as it was adopted in violation of the basic procedures,
especially the rules which were to ensure objective evaluation of
all circumstances and validity of the decision.
4) on other grounds recognised as material by the administrative
court.
The annulment of the contested act (action) shall signify restoration
in a certain specific case of the status quo which existed before
the making of the contested act (action), i.e., the claimant is
granted restoration of the infringed rights or lawful interests,
however the legal power of another legal act in effect before the
annulled act shall not be restored per se.
Having heard
the case on the petition for review of legality of a regulatory
administrative act, the administrative court shall adopt one of
the following decisions:
1) to recognise the legality of the contested regulatory administrative
act (or a part thereof) and to reject the petition for the annulment
thereof ;
2) to recognise the contested regulatory administrative act (or
a part thereof) as conflicting with the law or Government regulation
and to deem it annulled.
A regulatory
administrative act (or a part thereof) as a rule may not be applicable
from the day of official announcement of the effective decision
of the administrative court on the recognition of the relevant regulatory
administrative act (a part thereof) as illegal. Having regard to
the specific circumstances of the case and having assessed the possibility
of negative legal consequences, the administrative court may establish
in its decision that the annulled regulatory administrative act
(or a part thereof) may not be applicable from the day of its adoption.
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Advisory
functions
None
Miscellaneous
remarks
None
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